Insanity
by The Silver Huntress321
Summary: Once a month, the League goes to Arkham Asylum. / A story in which the Light went a little too far. Rated T for safety, enjoy! (Sorry, there really isn't much left to say about it.)


_Hey guys, another prompt from YJ Anon Meme! Again, I'll be putting a brief excerpt of the prompt up here, with the full one below._

 _Prompt: Once a month, the mentors visit Arkham Asylum._

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _I don't own Young Justice._

 _Insanity_

Black Canary sighed, looking at the teenager. "Conner…"

"No." The boy didn't look up, didn't even move. "Every time you come here, you always ask the same question. You always get the same answer. Aren't you tired of it?"

The woman frowned at him. "You don't have to be in here. You're the one that chose this. Do you really not want to be free?"

Finally, haunted blue eyes met hers. "Not if there's a chance I'll hurt people. I've already hurt my team."

She shook her head adamantly. "We've been through this. You didn't hurt them, you were helping them. We're trying to help them now. It isn't your fault."

Conner pushed himself to a standing position. "Sorry BC, but no. I think I'll stay a bit longer. Just to be sure."

"It's been two years, Conner." Dinah said softly. "You haven't shown any signs, early or not. You can come back now."

"No. Try again next time." He sat down and it was clear her conversation with him was over. She stood and made her way to the next room, allowing Clark Kent to take her place.

An awkward silence descended upon the two, as usual. So many words had been left unsaid and would probably stay that way. "Look, kid," the man started hesitantly.

"I'm not a kid. Physically and mentally I'm eighteen now." The words held a hidden fire, and Superman allowed himself to hope. He'd messed up with the teen, big time, but now he wanted nothing more to go back and change things. Maybe Superboy would listen, had things been different.

Clark sighed, "I know, sorry. The point is we're all certain that you aren't like them. You don't have to stay here."

"I don't care. No one saw the signs with them. It's possible you guys are just overlooking my signs." There was a brief moment of silence before the clone met his gaze. "How are they?"

The Man of Steel shifted awkwardly. "As far as I can tell, same as usual." Conner's eyes saddened and drifted back to the floor.

"Oh," the word was murmured, but he heard it anyway. Superman checked the time and frowned. It was running out.

"Please, just think about it, okay?"

The boy sighed, before nodding. "Yeah, sure." With that, Clark cast one last glance at the eighteen-year-old before slipping out of the room to see how the other meetings had gone.

* * *

"How are you today?" The words cut through the silence like a knife. Silver eyes flicked upward, a slight smile gracing the teen's features.

"I am quite well, my king," said the young man. "And you are well, I hope?"

This was a pleasant welcome, compared to the previous one. Last time Aquaman had visited his protégé, Kaldur hadn't been in a good place. He could still remember the venomous glare, the hatred-filled eyes, and the cold words. "Yes, I am. It is nice to see that you are doing alright."

Aqualad nodded, averting his gaze. "I would like to apologize for our last talk. I was not quite myself."

Orin sighed, "It is not your fault, my son. You were not in full control. I understand that. The only one to blame is The Light. I assure you, they will be dealt with accordingly."

"How is the rest of my team? Is Conner still refusing to leave?"

"Yes, he is, but Black Canary and Superman are working with him, trying to help him. The others are as well as can be expected. I have not visited them personally, though much like the two of us, many mentor-protégé meetings are taking place." Kaldur nodded once more, clenching his fists.

"I should have done better as leader," he muttered. "If I had, there would be no need for any of this."

The older Atlantean shook his head. "No, Kaldur'ahm. It is not your fault. The Light is the only one at fault now. They did this to you. They did this to your team. I am not the only mentor that wishes to punish them, I assure you." He noticed the feminine silhouette standing in the background. "I believe that Black Canary would like a word, I shall see you next time, my son."

"Of course, my king," said the teen. Black Canary sat down, peering at the boy intently.

"How are you?"

The question was to be expected. It was the first thing she said every time the pair came face to face. He had no doubt that it was also said to his teammates. "I am well today, thank you for asking."

She nodded. They both knew it wasn't quite the truth, more of a half-truth. He was never well, but some days were better than others. "That's good to hear. Superman tells me that Conner asked about you guys."

Kaldur sighed. He knew of the Kryptonian boy's self-inflicted punishment. "Is there any way that I could… speak with him? Perhaps if he heard it from me, he would realize that he is behaving foolishly."

"I'm sorry, Kaldur, I really am. But you know that isn't how it works. Fellow inmates aren't allowed to interact; if and only if he pulls himself out will he be able to see you, or anyone else." He had known what her response would be, he'd heard it before. Still, he asked, just in case it ever changed. He longed to see his teammates, to apologize for being such a poor leader.

"I understand, Black Canary. Thank you anyway." There wasn't much more to be said. Everything else of importance had long since been spoken. "You may move on to another, if you wish. There does not seem to be anything else, after all."

The blonde woman nodded. "Hang in there Kaldur."

* * *

 _M'Gann, please. It's me, your uncle, J'onn. I'm trying to reach you. Please, respond._

There was no reply, mental or verbal. Same as always. The red-haired Martian merely sat, staring blankly forward. It was all she could do. He wasn't real, after all. None of them were. They were just more images. Or maybe not. She didn't really care, either way. Whether it was real or not was of little consequence. It all eventually would go away. It hadn't taken her long to come to that realization. The day she had, though, was the day she stopped. Stopped answering, reacting, even moving. She remembered the way they had screamed as they were murdered. By her. Or was that one of the images? Maybe that's all everything was. Images. One after the next, never-ending.

 _M'Gann. We do not have an endless amount of time. You were getting better, remember? There was even talk of you being able to leave. Why did you shut down like this? I know you can hear me. Please answer._

Nothing. Not even a whisper. She wasn't going to say anything. She never did. The only sound was that of the air vents, filtering in the precious oxygen. That was something that definitely wasn't just an image. The air vents had been there since she'd arrived. They never left, they never faltered. They were certainly more faithful than all of the images. So that meant that they definitely weren't images. They were the only things she was sure of nowadays. Her uncle would come and go. The air vents wouldn't.

She didn't notice as Black Canary took Martian Manhunter's place. She was good at that, not noticing things. She didn't hear Black Canary's question. She was good at that, too. She'd had a lot of practice, after all. Not that she'd kept track of time. Even if she'd have had the resources, she knew she wouldn't have. Time didn't matter. The images didn't matter, either. Nothing mattered.

"Conner asked…" she didn't hear anything else. Not until the female superhero mentioned another teammate, anyway. "Kaldur still…"

Those were the only things she paid attention to anymore. She wouldn't listen to anything else, but if one of her friend were mentioned she would. She missed them. She didn't want to see them, but she did miss them. If she saw them, they wouldn't be real. Just images, like everything else. So she didn't want to see them. She just liked to hear about them.

Black Canary kept talking and M'Gann just wished she would stop. That she would go away and never return. Maybe then her former trainer would be real again. Maybe if they just left her alone they would all be real again and things could go back to being okay. But no. They insisted on coming. They apparently didn't want to be real. They just wanted to be images. That's okay, though. It's their choice. She didn't blame them for it, considering that she wasn't entirely sure if she even wanted to be real, either. If she could choose between being real and being an image, she wasn't sure what choice she would make. Not that it mattered. The choice wasn't real either.

* * *

Vibrations shook the room. He was grinning from ear to ear as he took in his uncle. " _I'm so glad you came, I missed you, started to wonder if you were ever going to come back but then I thought to myself well duh of course he's coming back but then you took so long I thought these visits were supposed to be 'regular' but oh well you're here now! How's mom and dad and the League and Iris and you, how are you doing, have you kicked a lot of bad guy butt lately? You should really take me out sometime, could be like old times, you and me and villains and saving the world and…"_

"That's enough, Kid," Barry chuckled. "Well, let's see. Clearly I came back, so you don't need to worry about that. They are regular, about once a month. Your parents are fine; they miss you but understand that you're getting help. Iris is okay, too, pretty much the same as your parents. I'm fine, and so is the League. I'd like to think that I kicked a fair amount of bad guy butt, though I'm not really one to judge. You know I'd love to go patrolling together or something, but we've got to get you stable, first, right?"

The vibrant redhead dulled slightly at the reminder. " _I feel fine though!_ "

"You do realize that you're speed-talking, right?"

A blush spread to his cheeks. " _…Oops…"_

The Flash laughed. "It's okay; just try to slow down when BC comes in, okay? She can't understand you when you talk that fast."

" _Yeah, sure thing Uncle B._ " The speedster nodded eagerly. " _I can't wait to get out of here and fight crime and – oh, hi Black Canary!"_ A pointed look from his uncle caught his attention and he forced himself to slow down. "Sorry, hey Black Canary." It was torture just to talk so slowly but it'd be worth it, he was sure.

Dinah smiled. "You seem cheerful today."

"Uh huh, _so_ cheerful. Do you think I can leave now?"

Her smile dimmed. "Sorry, Wally. You aren't in here to get cheerful; you're in here to get _better_. And unfortunately, mania is a symptom of what you're trying to recover from. So not just yet."

He shrugged, "Well it was worth a shot anyway. You know what I miss most? Meg's cookies. Ah, those were good times."

"Funny you should mention Miss Martian; I was just in to see her." His ears perked up at this.

"How is good old Megalicious?" It felt good to say those words, even if not to the girl herself. That's the thing he really missed most. Just talking and being friends with the others. It'd been so long since he'd even seen them, let alone spoke to them. It wasn't natural.

Black Canary sighed. "We hope she'll be okay." He didn't miss the 'we hope' part. That meant that, however she was, she wasn't okay. Worry flared up within him. His romantic feelings had ended as soon as he realized that she and Conner had a thing for each other, but now he felt like her brother in a way. To hear that she wasn't doing well… it crushed him.

He forced his next words out. "The others?"

The therapist studied him for a minute, as though debating whether she should say. "Kaldur is doing well today. Conner… we're working with him." Wally nodded. Even through the mania, he could feel worry and concern building. For all his denial, he knew that something was wrong with him. "I haven't been in to see Robin or Artemis yet."

He had to accept that. Had to accept that he wouldn't hear about them or their conditions today. Or probably ever. From what he could tell, Black Canary always went in the same order.

She seemed to sense the despair beneath the mania, "Hang in there, Wally."

* * *

Batman studied his partner. It was entirely possible that the teen hadn't even noticed his presence. He didn't notice much of anything lately. The boy was standing in front of a wall, examining its contents. Newspaper clippings, online articles, official records… anything he could get his hands on. Most of them were brought by his mentor. Despite the initial thought of possibly enabling his ward, he'd continued bringing them.

"Robin." The boy didn't move from his position, but did glance over briefly.

"Yeah?" Behind the mask, his blue eyes darted across the 'evidence' he had taped to his wall. Trying to find a connection, always trying to find that slim connection.

Bruce sighed, before engaging in their typical role play. "Anything new on the case?"

The raven-haired teen shook his head. "No, but I'll find it, don't worry." His voice was tense. He knew that if he didn't find it, more people could get hurt.

"I brought new evidence." That got his attention. He stalked over to his mentor, waiting expectantly. The moment the dark knight brought the page within the teen's reach, it was taken and plastered to the wall, with the rest of it.

"This is great, thanks Batman. Surely I'll have _something_ soon."

Bruce nodded. "I'll leave you to it, then." Any other attempts at a conversation would have been disregarded, he knew. Standing, he met Black Canary at the door and gestured for her to go in.

"How are you?" The words were gentle. They always were. Robin scowled. They didn't _understand_. He _had_ to crack this case. He just _had_ to. Still, though, he knew she wouldn't leave without a response.

"I'm fine. The case isn't, but you know how it is." The words were quick. Any distraction could be disastrous. If he missed even the _slightest_ clue... he shuddered to think about it.

"Is there anything you'd like to talk about?"

He scoffed. "No. If you would, I have work to do."

"Robin. That isn't a case."

He turned, glaring her down. "You wouldn't know. Now, _please_ , I have a case to solve."

Resigned to the dismissal, the blonde stood and left the boy to his 'case.' She had tried to tell him countless times that it wasn't an actual case, just random newspaper pages. He never listened, instead shooing her out.

* * *

Green Arrow watched his protégé sadly. There she sat, sharpening everything within reach. The staff had been hesitant to leave her with weapons but quickly found that she wouldn't hurt herself and reluctantly allowed it. There was glass separating the two. It was bulletproof, because while she wouldn't hurt _herself_ , she was more than willing to hurt others. He'd long since given up at trying to have pleasant conversation with her. The only times she would talk would be when she wanted to talk. Other than that, she would just glare silently at whoever had the misfortune to be within eyesight.

Black Canary was seated next to him, both offering moral support and occasionally attempting to lure the blonde teenager into conversation. The only words she got were harsh and unforgiving. Or threats. It really depended on the young archer's mood. The therapist was clueless as to how she could help. After all, there was only so much Dinah could do. Only so much _anyone_ could do. Finally, having had enough, she slipped her hand into Oliver's and led him out of the room. They felt her glare as they walked out.

* * *

It had been a long day for the mentors. A long day indeed. Still, though, there was more to be done. There would always be more. Until the day they brought down the Light, made them pay for what they did, there would be no rest.

* * *

 _Okay so, how'd I do? I'm really not sure how I portrayed them, if it was even good or whatever._

 _Here's the full prompt:_ _Once a month the League visits Arkham Asylum. But they don't go to interrogate the inmates. They visit their former protégés, who were all driven mad by the Light._

 _I didn't know whether to include Roy or not, so I didn't. My guess is that he's off somewhere, trying to make the light pay, much like the mentors haha. I'm not sure about how I did on them being insane. Artemis's is one I'm definitely not sure about. The idea for her was that she'd descended into the assassin that her dad trained her to be, but a crazy version. Superboy was terrified of becoming the weapon he meant to be, so in light of what happened to his friends, he forced them to lock him up as well. M'Gann sees hallucinations and such so she doesn't know what's real and not. Kaldur is a Man vs. Self kind of thing. Sanity vs. Insanity, so sometimes he's the gentle compassionate Atlantean we know and other times he's brutal and ruthless. Kid Flash I kind of tried to go for bipolar, but I'm not sure how that turned out. Robin was just super obsessive. So yeah. Enjoy I guess._


End file.
